Jan. 1, 1990: The reign of Amherst's pro-development supervisor ends

In the 1960s, Jack Sharpe was well-known as the fiery WEBR Trafficopter reporter who would regularly, over the radio, admonish individual drivers for behaviors he’d see on the highways below him.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Sharpe was known as the fiery Amherst aupervisor who opened the town for massive development, and saw much growth in an area that overall saw hemorrhaging of population, jobs, and businesses.

The local political cartoon last fall showed a ghoulish caricature of Amherst Supervisor Jack Sharpe at the wheel of a steam roller, against a backdrop of high-rise buildings and bumper-to-bumper traffic.